Newmarket resident Anita Joshi was upset when her local crossing guard decided to call it quits last week.
Joshi said her family has experienced several close calls with dangerous drivers near Alexander Muir Public School, which her two sons attend.
Other parents were also disappointed when crossing guards in the Woodland Hills area announced they were quitting when their daily paid hours were reduced from four to three — effectively meaning they would be paid 25 per cent less.
“It’s a very, very dangerous corner right at the school that a lot of people speed through,” Joshi said. “We’ve just had so many different issues with crossing guards. We won’t have (guards) for some time, and then we will. It’s getting quite concerning.”
The Town of Newmarket has entered into a new contract with crossing guard contractor Carraway, according to the company, which is the cause of the change in the hours of work allotted to some crossing guards, some of whom are quitting as a result.
Newmarket commissioner of development and Infrastructure Peter Noehammer said it is something the town is aware of the issue.
“While the town cannot mandate how the contracted company assigns hours to their employees, we have met with the contractor to provide our feedback on the situation and to reinforce the service levels expected in the contract,” Noehammer said in a written statement. “We hope that all crossing guards are treated with respect and compensated equally and fairly.”
Due to ongoing recruitment challenges, the town turned to the contractor, however it continues to employ some crossing guards itself.
Carraway managing director Owais Memon said the reduction in hours occurred due to a change in the contract.
Last May, Newmarket’s crossing guard contractor Neptune Security Services went bankrupt. At that point, Memon said Carraway stepped in on a temporary contract. To address the gap for the remainder of the school year, he said the town and Carraway increased what it could offer crossing guards as an recruitment incentive: a minimum of four hours a day of work, as opposed to a more typical three hours.
That incentive helped fill the gap, Memon said. A new full-time contract was supposed to be in place for the start of the new school year through an RFP process, Memon said, but the town did not decide that in time. As a result, the temporary contract was extended through September before Carraway eventually won the full contract.
But the town offered more hours during the temporary contract than the full-time one, leading to a cut of one hour, with crossing guards only guaranteed pay for three hours of work per day, Memon said.
“The budget isn’t there,” Memon said.
Memon said they have been priced out by competitors before in the RFP process and knew they had to come further down in price to secure the bid. He contrasted Newmarket and other municipalities with the City of Toronto, where Carraway provides its guards pay for six hours of work minimum.
“We have, in the past, successfully advised municipalities and cities to increase the daily compensation because we strongly believe that pay of three (hours) is no longer feasible for crossing guards,” he said, adding the key for Toronto is “they get a daily minimum that puts them above the poverty line. With that being said, Toronto has a larger budget.”
The last RFP for the crossing guard contract went out July 14, with 12 companies bidding for it, according to its bids and tenders websites.
In response, the town said it cannot mandate what the contractor pays their employees, but it does go through competitive request for proposal processes with vendors and the cost is the basis of the contract.
The town further said town crossing guard employees are paid the hours they work, which starts at two hours per day. Crossing guards who cover more than one crossing and spare guards are paid four hours per day "due to the fact that they are often called on short notice." Town guards are also paid for all PA days and holidays within the school year, including non-statutory ones like winter and March breaks.
Memon said they are still working to meet the expectations required by the town, with an recruitment process ongoing.
But recruitment of crossing guards can be difficult, he said, an issue not unique to Newmarket.
“The current compensation model for paying crossing guards a minimum three hours is not sustainable. I think that needs to change. How quickly is it going to change, that is all dependent on the town.
“We’ve been forced to compete in this model we ourselves know is only a matter of time before it becomes unsustainable.” Memon added.
Meanwhile, Joshi wonders if traffic control measures like speed bumps could help with the issue of dangerous speeders in school neighbourhoods.
The town plans to add automated speed enforcement cameras to several school zones in the community starting next year.
Joshi said the crossing guard issue does not seem to be a priority to the town.
“We would have liked the town to then step in. I know they’re a company and a business and they need to make money,” she said. “It sends a really bad signal to the community that our crossing guard was kind of disregarded and given a pay cut.”
